Conservatives rebel against John Boehner

Conservative opposition to John Boehner’s reelection as speaker on Thursday was more determined than it originally seemed, as a small band of hard-liners either flat-out opposed the speaker or simply abstained from casting a ballot.

There were some signs that conservative resistance to Boehner was well-organized, at least by one member who has never been a big fan of the Ohio Republican.

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Reelected Boehner's House address

112th Congress winners & losers

Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) — who was recently removed from key committees and supported Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for speaker — sat on the House floor during the speaker vote brandishing an iPad. A message was displayed on the screen ticking off members of the House Republican Conference he hoped would oppose the sitting speaker. The title of the document: “You would be fired if this goes out.”

Among the Republicans on the list were Reps. Steve King (Iowa), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Scott Garrett (N.J.), Steve Fincher (Tenn.) and Scott Desjarlais (Tenn.). All of them ultimately supported Boehner.

It’s not clear that any of the Republicans on Huelskamp’s list knew they were on it, or even knew of the list’s existence.

In the end, nine Republicans abandoned the Ohio Republican’s bid for a second term as speaker, and cast votes for people as varied as a former member of Congress who lost his reelection bid in November and a 1990s-era U.S. comptroller general who appears on cable television.

Two Republicans – Reps. Raul Labrador (Idaho) and Mick Mulvaney (S.C.) – sat in the chamber, pointedly ignoring the call of their name to cast a vote for Boehner, who edged to victory with 220 votes. And newly elected Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas), who returned to the House after 15 years, voted “present,” demonstrating his lack of fear for the diminished Boehner.

Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) — long a foil to Boehner — got three votes. As a trio of Republicans lawmakers cast their votes for him, Cantor shook his head on the House floor, visibly displeased. His office declined to comment on the vote.

“I will not comment on stories that invade personal e-mails or private property,” Huelskamp said in a statement read by a spokesman when asked about the anti-Boehner list, which was clearly visible to photographers and reporters as he worked on it while sitting on the House floor.

But the drama playing out among House Republicans during the last 48 hours was a rebuke of Boehner’s leadership — and one that matters in both substance and style.

A small, but extraordinarily vocal group of conservatives sent Boehner a message: We don’t trust you.

Boehner allies write off the near-miss as sour grapes from lawmakers who have long opposed the Ohio Republican. Boehner is speaker for the 113th Congress, they noted. But the numbers do matter. Boehner now faces significant restiveness in his ranks over taxes, spending, borrowing, messaging and his hands-off leadership style.

And this comes as Boehner is about to enter three months that will define his tenure as speaker.

Readers' Comments (112)

I personally don't understand what Boehner is doing. Payroll taxes just went back up because from what I've read that's apparently what the Republicans wanted. I don't know why Boehner wouldn't vote no for the overall bill and let this go to sequestration, as at least we would get spending cuts and unemployment wouldn't be extended again and Obama would probably ultimately get the blame for taxes going up as the Republicans supposedly were anti tax hike. Maybe I'm confused here, but it doesn't seem like Boehner's doing a very good job at all. Please let me know if I'm wrong here.

JC, I don't know much about the bill outside it stopped everyone's taxes from going up. But it was very important to the Democrats to raise the top rate from 35 to 39.6%. If the Republicans wouldn’t have rebelled and forced Boehner to pull his plan B which would have raised taxes on those making over a million. Then Boehner would have had a better hand to play and the final bill would have around 750,000 instead of the 450,000.

But the way I understand it, Boehner was willing to give the revenue the Democrats wanted by closing loop holes and deduction instead of raising the top rate. One thing I have found out that if you make that kind of money, you can afford to pay the best tax lawyers, accounts, CPA’s etc to make sure you never pay the top rate. There has been numerous times were a higher tax rate has actually lead to a decline in revenues. Time will tell whether raising the rate actually helps revenue or not.

Evening Pero.....Do you think Boehner has been a good Speaker? Do you agree with his latest "Yes" vote?

Howdy JC, I think Boehner has been a fairer speaker than pelosi. By that I mean he has been more willing to let the members of his party to vote with the wishes of the people of their district than Pelosi. Pelosi ran her party with an iron fist when she was speaker and she didn't care one iota about the wishes of the people who elected democrats in their district and then 2010 happened mainly because of that. As for his yes vote, I don't think he had much of a choice. His cacus pulled his barganing power away from him when they forced him to pull Plan B. The Republicans defeated themselves in other words.

#1 Jan. 3, 2013 - 7:52 PM EST I personally don't understand what Boehner is doing. Payroll taxes just went back up because from what I've read that's apparently what the Republicans wanted. ----------------------------------- Yo are wrong JC. Republicans didn't want taxes to go up. Obama did. But Obama and the lame stream media tried very hard to sell you the wrong impression. They of course succeeded and now Obama's true colors came to light. Have you wondered why the msm is not making it a big deal that taxes went up for 77%? Because the wanted it. Otherwise you'd be hearing it all over the place. You see...the msm doesn't give republicans a pass, so this is premeditated.

I personally don't understand what Boehner is doing. Payroll taxes just went back up because from what I've read that's apparently what the Republicans wanted. I don't know why Boehner wouldn't vote no for the overall bill and let this go to sequestration, as at least we would get spending cuts and unemployment wouldn't be extended again and Obama would probably ultimately get the blame for taxes going up as the Republicans supposedly were anti tax hike. Maybe I'm confused here, but it doesn't seem like Boehner's doing a very good job at all. Please let me know if I'm wrong here.

no boehner isn't doing a very good job and you have your own party to blame. boehner is an ol'school republican who cut his teeth back in a time when democrats and republicans worked together addressing the major issues of the day. his hand is now being forced by republican extremist coming from reliably safe districts thanks to redistricting for the most part. GOP chickens have come home to roost.

The writer of this article needs to go back to school. If you cannot even have the intelligence to write an article, your opinion does not matter. And without a doubt, this is an opinion piece. Since when does anyone state facts any more All we get are opinion pieces.

The only way Boehner defeats the unprofessional media (NBC,ABC+CBS) , the democrat party, the washington establishment, and two face O'bama is to watch the epic scene in " Risky Business" where Joel (Tom Cruise) says " sometimes you just got to say what the f ."

Really, if Boehner is going to go out, he might as well go out with both guns blazing. Looking at his hopeless situation as a one way mission, he might find the courage to shut the government down and force the anti American politicians back to the bargining table.

If he can last a week or so the first time, he could then do it over and over until Americans could see that it's not the end of the world.

If the Republicans wouldn’t have rebelled and forced Boehner to pull his plan B which would have raised taxes on those making over a million. Then Boehner would have had a better hand to play and the final bill would have around 750,000 instead of the 450,000.

Imbecile was a medical category of people with moderate to severe mental retardation, as well as a type of criminal.

The term arises from the Latin word imbecillus, meaning weak, or weak-minded. It included people with an IQ of 26–50, between "moron" (IQ of 51–70) and "idiot" (IQ of 0–25).

The meaning was further refined into mental and moral imbecility.

The concepts of "moral insanity", "moral idiocy"," and "moral imbecility", led to the emerging field of eugenic criminology, which held that crime can be reduced by preventing "feeble-minded" people from reproducing.

The House was told that no amendments would be tolerated. Basically, "take it or leave it" bully tactics.

It's my guess that Boehner took the deal because

1. McConnell had a hand in crafting it, and

2..He had no choice because taxes on everything would go up, hitting the middle class hard, and

3. He didn't want BHO using his bully pulpit to blame the Repubs for that, which he would, even though it is not their fault.

4. We now have a 60-day grace period to work on spending cuts, which Boehner wants.

Just a hunch......

Evenin Polgara.....Boehner could've voted "no" and let it go to sequestration, leading to government cuts, no unemployment extensions, etc...and Obama would be to blame for letting the tax cuts expire. Another thing I don't understand is why the Republicans were against extending the payroll tax cuts. And working on spending cuts.....I don't ever believe that the Democrats will cut spending later if we cut taxes first.

To be honest, I've written AP, 2M, and Canada John to ask their opinions on this, because I may be confused as to the nuts and bolts of all this.

WASHINGTON — After defiantly rejecting a Senate compromise to extend a payroll tax break and jobless pay, Speaker John A. Boehnerstood before the television cameras on Tuesday enveloped by scores of House Republicans. Even as a group, they seemed very much alone. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12...